All The Right Moves
by MaxieFalconeri
Summary: Dante/Maxie. AU. Shooting Storyline, with a few twists. Rated T just to be safe for later chapters.
1. Down

Author's Note: This is only the beginning (first few chapters). Based on how much feedback I get, I'll continue or not. I do hope to get a lot of reviews because I love this couple and it's something I do want to continue. A few things quickly before you read and review what I have so far, Dante was never romantically involved with Lulu, Maxie hasn't been with Spinelli(in awhile), and Lulu doesn't know half of what she knows on the show. Happy reading, please review! It takes only a minute and makes the day that much better :) All flashbacks are in Italics.

The day had started out so normal, Maxie wasn't quite sure when it'd turned into the hell she was currently in. She remembered everything vividly, the events that had happened in the past twenty-four hours. In no way had any of them indicated that she'd be at General Hospital covered in the blood of two men.

Maxie knew that she shouldn't have been sneaking around with Dominic Pirelli. She knew she should've stopped things from becoming serious, stopped herself from becoming emotionally invested. But she hadn't and now? Now, she was sitting in the waiting area, her sapphire dress now a shade of crimson.

Lulu was in the next chair over and she hadn't said one word since arriving ten minutes ago. It wasn't that big of a surprise really considering the secrets which had been uncovered. Maxie looked over at Lulu, wondering if she should break the silence. "Lulu, say something" She said, quietly as she attempted to stop her blood stained hands from shaking.

"What do you want me to say, Maxie? We're supposed to be best friends, and you kept an enormous secret from me for months"

Maxie looked down at her hands, as a single tear rolled down her cheek. "I'm sorry, Lulu. But I didn't have a choice and even if I did? I probably wouldn't have said anything, anyway. I'm a selfish shrew and I only look out for myself" she lied, knowing the lies had all been to protect **him**_._

"Maybe before you knew Spinelli" Lulu looked at her. She was of course referring to her comment about being a selfish shrew.

"Look having Spinelli in my life doesn't just erase who or what I am deep down. I knew all this could hurt him and I still did it" She said, shrugging. "He deserves better than me for a best friend"

"He probably does, but he wants you for one reason or another. You can do no wrong in his eyes, you know that"

"Yeah, I know. It's a lot to live up to—being up on a pedestal that high."

"Is that why you started sleeping with Dominic—err, Dante?" Lulu asked, as she tucked some of her blonde hair behind her ear.

"No, I started sleeping with him because he knew I was a self-absorbed bitch, and he didn't care. He liked everything about me—even all the bad. I haven't had that in a long time, since Georgie was murdered" she admitted, her voice so quiet near the end, it was almost a wonder she was even heard.

"Maxie, are you in love with him?"

She nodded her head. "Yeah, It's funny how all I wanted was amazing sex and a little bit of fun" She sighed, looking away from Lulu. "And look what I got. Look what's happened, Lulu"

Lulu took a breath in, exhaling slowly. It was a lot to process on top of the walking STD screwing her brother over. No one had told Lulu, squat. She saw that Maxie was shaken right down to the core and asking her what happened? It was probably a terrible idea. But she had to know if she was going to help at all. "What happened, Maxie?"

Maxie rose from the chair and took a few steps away from Lulu, before turning to face her. "I know logically that I'm not still at that house that I'm here at GH with you. But I still feel like I'm there and I can still smell that scent of gunpowder and death, Lulu. I look down at my hands? And they're covered in the blood of two men. One innocent and one guilty as sin"

"You're safe, Maxie. No one's going to hurt you. You can tell me what happened"

Maxie took a shaky breath before gently nodding her head. "It all started this morning"

_Kate hated when people were late to work and Maxie knew this, and yet? She wasn't moving from her position in the bed. She hadn't lifted her head off of his chest and she hadn't removed her hands from their place, either._

"_I need to go"_

_He looked down into her eyes; she looked so tiny in his arms. "So go"_

_She pressed a kiss to his chest before lifting her head slightly, enough to really look him in the eyes. "The problem here is that I don't want to. I mean I know Kate is going to have my head on a silver platter with her morning latte, because I'm late." She told him, seriously. Kate would be furious—that was for certain. "But I also know that today's THE day"_

"_Maxie..."_

"_I just, I know I'm paranoid and all. But I can't help but worry something will go wrong. I can't lose you the way I lost them"_

"_What happened to Jesse, Georgie, and Cooper was not your fault and you know that. Nothin' is going to go wrong" Dante told her, insistently. He'd bust Sonny and then most likely have to lie low for awhile, but he wasn't going to get himself killed._

"_You don't know that, Dante"_

"_You're right, I don't know that. But I choose to believe that"_

_She was worried and he was stubborn, great combination. "Yeah, I hope you're right" She said, getting out of the bed and pulling her clothes back on. Maxie pulled her hair back neatly before turning to face him one last time._

"_Maxie, It's gonna be okay. I know no matter how many times I say that to you, that you won't believe it. But nothin' is gonna happen to me" he said, unsure of who he was really convincing, her or himself._

"_Just call me, when it's over? Let me know you're breathing and riddled with bullets?" She asked, pleading with her eyes and voice. She leaned down and quickly kissed him on the lips. The kind of kiss that was routine on a person's way out._

"And then you know what happened at work because hello, you were there"

Lulu looked confused. How did that add up to blood all over her? "Right, but that doesn't explain all that" Lulu said, pointing to her bloody dress.

"Well that didn't happen till later"


	2. Monster

"_Maxie!!"_

_Maxie groaned as she got up from the desk and walked into Kate's office. The woman had been punishing her all day for being late. "Yes, Kate?"_

_Kate tossed a folder at Maxie that she barely caught._

"_Take that to Sonny. I require his signature on those documents. Apparently, in order to expand my house it has to be alright with him"_

_She didn't bother to argue with her. She knew it'd get her nowhere. Instead she simply nodded her head and took off for Sonny's. Maxie arrived about twenty minutes later, walking inside to find no Max or Milo. Maxie found that a little odd, but walked into the living room anyway. As she did, she saw Sonny raise a gun at someone and at first she couldn't make out who. But as the identity of the person hit her, Maxie's eyes went wide. She heard Dante ask Sonny if he wanted to add cop-killer to his list of crimes._

"_Goodbye Detective"_

_Goodbye?! No, No, She couldn't let that happen! Maxie burst through the doors in enough time to see Sonny shoot Dante, and Dante fall to the ground. She felt like her heart had literally stopped, like she couldn't breathe. She rushed over to Dante, throwing the paperwork somewhere and taking off her jacket, applying pressure to the wound with it._

_Olivia ran in and began screaming at Sonny, claiming that he'd just shot his own son. Now Maxie felt like throwing up, someone as wonderful as Dante belonged to a scumbag like Sonny?! She pressed down harder to keep the blood from spilling out everywhere. "Dante! Dante!" she yelled, through tears wishing he'd just say something. God, she had known something would go wrong._

"_Quit your yellin', woman" he managed to get out, although staying awake was becoming increasingly hard to do._

'_I'll quit yelling, when you quit bleeding. God, you're such an idiot. I told you this would happen, but did you listen?! NO!"_

"_I..never..listen..when..you're..bein'..all..irrational"_

_The spacing between his words frightened her, he couldn't pass out. He'd probably never wake up._

"_Okay, listen to me—listen to me really well. You have to stay awake"_

"_I..love..ya..blondie"_

_Maxie felt tears well up in her eyes and one fell from her eye onto his blood stained shirt. "I love you, too" She told him, as her voice cracked. She saw recognition in his eyes that he'd heard her and then? Nothing, his eyes closed and his head rolled to the side slightly. "Dante?! Dante?! Baby?! Wake up!" she yelled, hysterical as she shook him gently. "Where's the goddamn ambulance?!!"_

_It wasn't long before the paramedics arrived and took him away from her, loading him into the ambulance. As it pulled away and headed for General Hospital, Maxie felt an uncontrollable amount of rage inside her towards Sonny Corinthos. The police hadn't arrived yet oddly enough. She went back into the house and spotted an entire pool of Dante's blood on the floor. Sonny was staring at it—as if deciding how to clean it—Mr. Clean or Pine Sol. "You son of a bitch!" she screamed, as her hands pounded into his chest. "You shot him! You shot him for doing his job!"_

"_He was a cop, Maxie. I didn't know he was my son"  
_

"_So what? That makes it all better?! My bad, I shot you because I didn't know you were my son! Do you know how stupid that sounds?!"_

"_It's the truth" _

"_No, the truth is that you think you're better than the rest of us. You think you're above the law and someone was finally going to put you down like the DOG you are, so you shot him. End of story. So hey, since you shot Dante for trying to take you down? Why not shoot me, huh? I mean I'm going to talk, squeal on you"_

"_I'm not going to shoot you, Maxie. You aren't going to say anything and you know it"_

"_Fine" She said, grabbing the gun he'd shot the man she loved with. "How about I shoot you then?" She asked, as she brought the gun up about the same level he'd had it on Dante. _

"_You're not going to shoot me, Maxie. Why? Because I shot him?! I didn't know he was my flesh and blood!"_

"_SHUT UP ALREADY! SHUT UP! You shouldn't be shooting cops—period! You live by some kind of insane code that people who are rats have to die. They're lives aren't important—the people that love them don't matter. As long as you get to slink around town with your whores and run drugs through Port Charles, everything's okay" She scoffed, as she cocked the gun._

"_Maxie, don't do this. You'll regret it for the rest of your life—you aren't a killer"_

_A gunshot rang out, followed by a thud._

"Did you kill Sonny?!" Lulu asked, a look of horror painted on her features.

"What?! NO!"

"But there was a gunshot and then someone fell down to the ground!"

"Yes, Sonny got SHOT. But I didn't kill him and it was actually an accident, I swear on Georgie's memory it was! I was all set to shoot him and then I dropped the gun on the floor and the thing went off and shot him in the leg!"

"The gun fired when you dropped it and shot him in the leg?!"

"Yes!!" The smaller blonde screamed, as she looked at her best friend. She hadn't meant to actually shoot him or play a part in things. She just wanted him to be scared for his life, the way she was for Dante!

"So how did you get covered in his blood? Well...I tried to stop the bleeding. But it must've hit something like an artery or a vein or whatever you have that bleeds because it was like blood EVERYWHERE!"

"Oh my god…Maxie…did you tell Lucky this or Mac or anyone??"

"No, I've been too worried about Dante and I came straight here from Sonny's. I mean well I waited for the ambulance to cart him off and then came here. I can tell Mac when I know Dante's still breathing, Okay? It's not like it's not true or something. Forensics' can use all their little beeping machines and laser beams to prove it"

Lulu sighed and turned away from her for a moment. She ran her hand through her golden blonde locks and closed her eyes. Something told her? It wasn't going to be that simple, not by a long shot. "I have a bad feeling about this"


	3. Never Say Never

Author's Note: I officially suck at life. I am aware of this. I haven't updated in forever. I probably don't even remember where the story was supposed to go—but the beauty of it is? I can make something else up :) Oh and I know for a fact my Dante's not a dumb as the one on the show. So no covering for Sonny will be going on when I get around to that. Just a warning in case you're a Sonny worshipper. So consider this the first of many new chapters of this fan fiction..hopefully you'll see others from me once I work out plotting for other ideas I have. Enjoy, read and review if you're still out there! It takes so little time and it really makes my day!

Maxie had been pacing back and forth for what felt like forever. Lulu had been trying to get her to change her clothes for the past two hours or so and Maxie wasn't leaving—even if she looked like something out of a slasher flick. She had to stay and find out that Dante was going to live and hopefully that Sonny would be as well. Although, she honestly wasn't that worried about Sonny because he was a rat bastard who deserved to die. She just didn't want to deal with the accusations that she'd killed him when it was an honest-to-god accident.

"Maxie, come on..you can't stay here in those clothes. You look disgusting and do you really want Dante to see you like that?" Lulu asked, finally breaking the silence.

"I don't care how I look" She snapped, as she stopped pacing. "I just want to know that he's going to live. I know, I'm normally self-absorbed and completely into how I look. I know, but I can't leave without knowing what happened to him one way or another. He's either alive and going to make a full recovery—or he's dead and I'll have another person to visit at the cemetery" She said, as she ran a hand through her blonde hair.

"Fine. Fine. We'll keep waiting. Is there anyone we should call..or?"

"I don't know. Dante didn't talk much about his family. I know his mother is Olivia Falconeri..and he has a bunch of Uncles and cousins. But I think they're back in Bensonhurst" she sighed, feeling useless and helpless all at once. She hated that feeling. It was the same feeling she'd gotten when she'd found Cooper hanging or saw Georgie lying on the ground motionless.

"Where is Olivia, anyway?" Lulu asked, looking around and not seeing her.

"I'm not sure..I thought I saw her talking to Mac before. But that was an hour and a half ago. They can't still be talking"

"Maybe she went to the chapel to pray.." Lulu trailed off, never finishing her sentence because she saw Patrick coming down the hallway. "Maxie—Maxie, look!"

Maxie looked up and spotted Patrick. She wasted no time in rushing over to him. "Patrick? Patrick. Is he dead? Tell me!" She said, frantically.

"Maxie..I can't tell you anything, you know that. You aren't family or his wife"

"What? I don't care? You owe me one for all the times you screwed Robin over! Tell me or I'll..break your hands!" She snapped, with a crazy glare in her eyes.

"What? You can't break my hands...Maxie, these are magic!" He snapped right back.

"I don't care if your hands were insured by the President of the United States! They don't matter to me! I can and will break them if you don't tell me"

Patrick looked around the room and didn't see anyone other than Maxie and Lulu. "Alright, He made it through surgery. He's not out of the woods though, Maxie. We could still lose him. But he's stable for right now. The bullet barely missed his heart" Patrick told her.

"Where is he? Is he awake?" She asked. "Can I see him?"

"He should be coming out of it in a little while. He's down the hall, three doors to the right. But his family should really see him first"

"Well I'm all for his family seeing him first. Maybe you could teleport them all here from Bensonhurst! We don't know where Olivia is..she's disappeared. Last anyone saw her? She was with Mac. So she's not here and he shouldn't be alone. So can I go or do I have to stand here and talk to you?" She asked, as she tapped her foot, impatient as hell.

He sighed. "Fine, you can go see him. But don't say anything to upset him when he does wake up and when a member of his immediate family does show up? You may want to consider going for coffee..or changing your clothes" He said, gesturing towards her fashion statement. Blood was so not in this season or last!

"Right, well..I'll change later because it's not that important and thanks Patrick. You know for coming around and seeing things my way which is the only way there is" She said, before heading off to Dante's room. She arrived a few minutes later and stood outside for a long moment-just looking inside. He looked terrible and seeing him that way? It frightened her. He was always so strong and he made a big deal about how tough he was. He didn't look so tough at the moment. She took a deep breath before walking inside the room and closing the door behind her. Maxie made her way over to the chair next to the bed and sat down .

Maxie took his hand and held it in her own. Whenever Olivia arrived, she'd let her take over for awhile and go get cleaned up. But she was nowhere to be found at the moment and he couldn't be left alone. Especially if Sonny had decided to have Jason or one of his other goons come and finish Dante off. Jason didn't scare her—why would he? He had exactly two facial expressions, wore one leather jacket, three different colored shirts, and couldn't hit the broad side of a barn with a bullet if he tried. Jason tried anything? She'd kill him with her bare hands.

She sat there in silence for about fifteen minutes or so before she heard a voice.

"Blondie.."

Maxie looked up and saw that he was awake, she felt tears filling her eyes, and did her best to quickly wipe them away. She couldn't cry right now. She had to be strong. She had to be there for him—whatever he needed. "Hey. How are you feeling?" She asked. "Stupid question, I know—but I'm not the smartest girl in the world"

"Like..I got..shot in the chest" he breathed. "And why do you always..gotta do that? You're..plenty smart"

"Oh yeah, I'm a regular Rhodes scholar—what with falling in love with an undercover cop who got himself shot in the chest and uses pick-up lines circa 1980 to pick up girls" She said, as she brushed some hair out of her face.

"Those lines..are classics..what are you talkin' bout'.."

"You're right..I should've turned into a puddle of goo the time you used "I'm no Fred Flinstone, but I can make your bedrock" on me"

"Ya, you shoulda..would've..made things easier..but then we wouldn't..be us, right?" He said, wincing.

"We don't have to talk right now, Dante..maybe you ought to just rest.."

"Rest? What..and wake up later..where you will..insist none of what..was said..was said?" He asked, weakly.

"What are you talking about?"

"Ya..know..what I'm talkin' bout'

She sighed heavily. "Dante, you being shot..it doesn't magically erase what we said earlier. I know it's normally my style to just gloss things over and pretend they didn't happen—especially if it's something that's emotional or unhappy. But..I'm not going to forget that we said I love you, just because you were bleeding all over my dress when it happened"

"So you...you do..remember"

"Yeah, I remember and you know what? I meant what I said. I love you, Dante. Maybe I should've told you before . But I was scared that I would lose you. I'd either mess things up with my patented Maxie way of things or you'd die and leave me like Cooper and Jesse did.." She trailed off, taking a breath. "But then I saw you lying on the ground..shot..and bleeding and all I could think was that if there was ever a reason to tell someone you love them—it would be because you might never get another chance to" She said, as her voice wavered. "I never told Georgie enough. I never told her how wonderful she was and she died not knowing. I couldn't let you die on me and not know that I loved you"

"Hey...hey..I didn't..I didn't die..I'm here..with a hole in my chest..and probably lookin' like Casper..but I'm not dead..you can uh..tell me..and show me all you want..ya know when I get betta"

"Don't worry I will and I'll nag you to death too. Never let you out of my sight and follow you around like a fangirl" She said, laughing lightly.

"I could get real used to that..y'know..you followin' me round'..you gonna wait on me too? " He asked, feeling sleepy again.

"Oh yeah, I'm gonna become the next Martha Stewart—only with way better fashion sense and every day I will promise to burn your toast and bring you half the paper because I've removed every mention of Sonny with either a scissor or a magic marker"

"That's gonna be real interestin' to see...you..waitin' on me hand..and foot..and a newspaper with a bunch of holes in it"

"You don't think I'll do it! I am—super insulted"

"No..you aren't.." he said, swallowing. "Can you..look in my..coat..my..phone's in..there..I wanna..call my Ma.."

"Dante, your mother already knows. She was there. Don't you remember? She'll be here soon. I promise"

"Just..please?"

She sighed as she got up from the chair and went over to his jacket. He hadn't elaborated on which pocket it was in or even if it was on the outside or the inside. So she felt all the pockets and the first one she found, she stuffed her hand inside and pulled what she thought the phone was out. But instead it was a small box. She opened the box up and looked inside. "Oh..my..god..Dante..what..what's this?"

"What's..what's..what?"

"This?" She said, in a high pitched voice as she walked over to the bed with it. There was a ring inside.

"Oh..that..I..That's Maxie's ring..Ma.." he said, apparently having gone off into delusion land. Great. He was delusional!

"Maxie's ring? What.."

"You..rememba..I told you..I was gonna ask her.."

"Ask her what? Ask her what?"

But before he could finish his sentence he'd fallen back asleep.

"Oh my god, he was going to propose" she said, under her breath. "Oh..what do i do with this..what do I do with this.."

"What do ya do with what?" a voice said and Maxie looked up to find Olivia there.

"Uh...nothing, nothing at all..I just..Dante..phone...and I gotta go" She said, before stuffing the box back in his pocket and bolting from the room.


	4. Everything You Want

Author's Note: i have up to chapter 16 plotted out. I just have to write it up. So hopefully that'll mean I'll update sooner/faster. Johnny doesn't know about Dante. It's important you know that. I don't really acknowledge the JoLivia stuff in my stories. I own nothing except my original characters that I've made up and I only half own those cause they have the relation to Olivia. Oh and I will get around to dealing with Scummy being Dante's father at some point in the near future, I promise!(I'm still not entirely sure I like him being Dante's father. We'll see if I keep it that way) You'll see them when they come by(Nathan, Matteo, Vito, Tatiana, etc)Read and Review!

After leaving Dante's room, Maxie ran straight to the access to the roof and made her way up there. Every once in awhile when she needed to clear her head or escape? She'd go up to the roof of a building. She stood on the roof looking up at the sky as she sighed. "You know, Georgie..I'm freaking out. It doesn't seem like it? But I'm totally freaking out" She said, in a high pitched voice as she waved her hands around in an over exaggerative manner. "He wants to marry me? Why? What the hell? Everything was fine and if he hadn't gone and gotten him shot? Then we would so not be in this situation right now. No, we'd be somewhere safe and we'd be doing something freaky between the sheets or getting completely wasted while he attempted to seduce me with his awful pick up lines. I know you've heard them!" She said, as she glared at the sky.

"But no, he gets shot and Sonny is his father and then he wants to call his mother and guess what? There's not a phone in his pocket! There's a damn ring box. What the hell do I say if he asks me? I'm not marriage material..unless you mean awful 24 hour quickie marriage in Vegas marriage. Then you can possibly sign me up. I have no good qualities and the qualities I have—the bad ones? They do not add up to make a good wife. Oh why did he have to think about getting married?" She asked, as she waited for some sort of answer from the great beyond. "You know these talks never seem to work for me. I mean don't they give you special privileges up there on your cloud? You can't come down to stop me from going completely batty? God, I miss you. I need you and this would be the time when you'd start rationalizing things and telling me how I'll be fine if I marry Dante. That I shouldn't flip out because he hasn't even asked and to not get so worked up because it's bad for my heart which by the way is kind of crappy, so you can tell the man in charge I said that, he takes you away and I'm still stuck with the bad heart. There should be some sort of exchange program"

Maxie took a deep breath in an attempt to calm down. Clearly, she was worked up over a number of things and Dante's ring was only the tip of the iceberg. "Okay, Maxie. You need to pull yourself together because you can't be a basket case right now" She mumbled, under her breath. "Oh great..now I'm talking to myself" She said, sighing as she ran her hand through her hair. Maxie was about to continue to babble on about nothing and everything all at once when she heard the door to the roof open. She turned and looked to see who it was and found it was none other than Johnny Zacchara. He was one of her closest friends and at one point when he'd first showed up? She'd wanted to take him to bed. But she was grateful that it hadn't happened.

"What are you doing up here?" Johnny asked as he made his way over to where she was standing.

"Thinking mostly. Although, I have to say that I think this roof is losing its touch because it's honestly not solving my problems like it used to"

"The roof used to solve your problems?" He asked, raising an eyebrow in curiosity.

"Well—when you say it like that I sound completely insane! I guess in the past when I've come up here? I always end up leaving..feeling like I have some sort of an idea what to do or like I have at least one answer"

"Well if the roof is defective, maybe I can help?" He suggested, as he glanced over at her. It was obvious she had been upset and even if it hadn't been obvious? Johnny just knew things like that.

"My boyfriend got shot in the chest by his father and I mean he pulled through surgery you know? He was talking to me. So rationally, I know that's something to be happy about. He could've died on the table like Jesse did or been dead before he even got to the hospital just like Coop" She told him, as she tucked some of her blonde hair behind her ear.

"Boyfriend? Since when?"

"Since—awhile. Look, it's all really complicated. So I'm going to try to give you the idiot's guide version and be done with it. But Dominic is really Dante and Dante is Sonny's son and Olivia's his mom. Sonny shot Dante for being an undercover cop. Sonny ended up shot by the end of the entire thing and I have no idea what happened to him. He was bleeding like everywhere last I checked and Dante went into surgery.." She trailed off, before taking a breath. "And then Patrick found me, I had to threaten bodily harm to find out his condition, Dante came to and we talked. Then he got delirious and wanted his cell phone and instead of a cell phone..I found.."

"You found...what?"

"A box..a ring box..and I know I shouldn't have opened it. But it was like one of those moments, you know? When you can't help but open Pandora's box because you want to know what's inside and then you do and you wish that you hadn't opened it. I wish I hadn't opened it because inside was this beautiful engagement ring and let me tell you something? I do not deserve it. Amazing men like Dante do not end up with self-involved shrews like me"

Johnny took a moment to process the madness that was Maxie's life before he said anything. "Okay, so you've been sleeping with an undercover cop who happens to be Sonny's son. Sonny shot his own son and then ended up shot himself somehow. You went to get his cell phone and found an engagement ring instead?" He asked. "Is that about right?"

She took a moment to make sure what he said was right and then nodded her head. "Yeah, that's about right. Why aren't you freaking out that he's an undercover cop?" She asked

'Because what's that going to do? And he's not after me, He's after Sonny and you know what? Seeing Sonny rotting in prison sounds pretty great to me" He said, shrugging his shoulders. "Back to the real issue though..why doesn't he deserve a girl like you?" He asked, confused as to why Maxie always sold herself so incredibly short. "And how do you feel about the idea of getting married?"

"Because he's wonderful, Johnny. He's sweet, funny, caring, yet he can be sarcastic, sexy, and evil..he's perfect and I'm just not. I'm not perfect, I'm like the most damaged woman in Port Charles. Besides, I'll only mess things up with him if they get any more serious. Getting married? It's like the final nail in the coffin that is a relationship. People get married and they're in love and by the end of it? They can't stand one another and it's a wonder how they even got married in the first place. I don't want Dante and I—like five years from now? To end up being one of those couples on Jerry Springer who show up and argue about their infidelity with a relative on national television because they have nothing better to do than to embarrass themselves"

Johnny couldn't help but chuckle at the Jerry Springer reference. "Maxie, you and whoever you marry will never be Jerry Springer material..you'll kill him before he ever has the idea in his head if he cheats on you and you and I both know that marriage isn't the nail in the coffin. Some people have happy marriages..not many that I personally know, but you know..some people do" he shrugged.

"Gee Johnny, what wonderful words of wisdom. "Some people have happy marriages" She mocked. "And most people get married and then get divorced and you know what? No one loves each other anymore and you have to sit around figuring out how to divide your dog which is ridiculous—the idea of visitation times for a dog!" She said, as she waved her hands around, clearly worked up again.

"Alright, Maxie..I can see that your slowly losing your grip on reality" he said, teasing her a bit. "So I'm just going to be straight with you. Do you love him?"

Maxie nodded her head as she let out a breath before looking up at Johnny.

"Okay, can you see yourself being with him for the rest of your life?"

"Yeah...I mean I can't imagine being with anyone else and if I was I'd probably think about him like—all the time" She said, smiling softly to herself.

"Alright, so doesn't that answer your question? I mean you sound like you're ready to me..I think you're just scared because Mac and your parents never had a marriage that actually lasted"

"You know when did you get so insightful? I could've sworn you were just the dark, brooding, hot, mobster in training who played piano and had a thing for hanging out on ledges. Now your some hot insightful...well your hot and insightful which is far from dark and brooding"

Johnny laughed. "Well maybe I'm just more than what meets the eye. Besides, it's not hard to figure you out Maxie"

"That is insulting!" She said, with her hands on her hips as she stared at him. "I am so hard to figure out, I'm like a wheres WALDO..you just keep staring and trying to find the guy in the white and red striped shirt with the silly hat, but you can't, and eventually you give up! That is what I'm like" she said, nodding.

"Okay, fine, Maxie..you win..you are incredibly difficult to figure out and are going to die alone and miserable"

"I did not say that" she said, looking highly unamused. "I just said I'm not easy to figure out..Geez"

Johnny looked out over the ledge and just shook his head. "I'm still trying to figure out what the hell you're doing standing here talking to me when you could be down in your boyfriends room talking to him"

"Point taken" she mumbled, before giving Johnny a huge hug because she was grateful that he put up with her crazy. She pulled back from the hug and looked at him. "You know...Lulu's been talking about you non-stop lately..I'm not trying to be nosy..Okay, maybe I am..I can't help it" she shrugged. "It's in my blood. I have an overwhelming need to meddle like one of the kids on Scooby Doo. But anyway, I think you should go talk to her..who knows! You might end up surprised!" She said, rushing off before he could form a response to what she had said.

Maxie went down the numerous flights of stairs as carefully as possible being that she wasn't really dressed for stairs and made her way back to Dante's room. It appeared that his mother was still with him. But he'd apparently woken up sometime during the roof top break down. She knocked on the door before walking inside. "Olivia...do you think I could have a minute with your son?" She asked, trying not to be bossy and demanding like she normally was because at the moment? Bossy and demanding was only going to end up getting her ass kicked by Olivia—Bensonhurst style.

Olivia nodded before saying a quick goodbye to Dante claiming she was going to change and call the rest of their relatives. She mentioned something about how Dante's Uncle Nathan was going to blow a gasket and murder Sonny when he found out and then left the room.

Maxie went over to the chair and sat down. "You have an Uncle Nathan?" She asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Well..yeah I got..alotta Uncles. My Ma's got a lot of brothers..I'm not really in a good frame of mind to name em' all right now..but uh, lata I can"

"Okay..but why is your Uncle Nathan going to murder Sonny?" She asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Cause they go way back in the neighborhood. Ya gotta understand how things work in Bensonhurst..ya know to get it, I guess. But let's just say my Uncle Nathan neva liked the way Sonny treated my Ma"

"Well I can't really say that I blame him..after all I've only heard ..not so great stories about Sonny in like any context"

"Yeah..well maybe when Nathan gets here, he can do what I couldn't..ya know? Arrest Sonny..cause he was talkin' bout transferrin' to the PCPD last time I spoke to him..somethin' bout' a woman that got away livin' here or somethin' he said, wincing as he attempted any movement.

"Well..that's curious...now I'm intrigued! It's like—a mystery or something. I'm going to get to the bottom of it. You think your Uncle will like me?" She asked.

"Oh yeah..he's gonna love ya..and my cousin, Aidan? He might even try to put the moves on ya..lemme tell you somethin' though, he blinks at you funny and I'll..have to kill him"

"That's hot, you know..being all protective and possessive" She said, with a smirk.

"Well..I know. But uh..hold onto those thoughts till a lata date when I can actually do somethin' about it, okay?" He said, as he looked over at her.

"I will. Don't worry. Listen...I.." She started, before finding herself chickening out.

"What?" He asked, curious to know what she was going to say. He was feeling a lot better aside from the pain that came and went every so often and he was bored out of his mind. He wanted to know was on hers! Maybe it would occupy him for a little while. Besides, it seemed important and that meant he HAD to know.

"Well, Remember when I was here earlier and you said you wanted to call your mother and I went to your jacket or whatever to get it? You told me it was in your coat pocket" She said, hoping he remembered because otherwise she'd look like a liar or a snoop and for once? She hadn't snooped!

"Yeah...I sort of remember that, why?"

"Cause I went into your jacket and well let's just say I didn't find a phone" She said, giving him a look.

"What did you find?" He asked, as realization dawned on him. He hadn't said what pocket. So she'd naturally figured she had to check both. She'd found the ring.

"I think you know what I found, Dante.."

"Just..tell me, Maxie.."

"I found a ring box and it had a beautiful ring inside" She said, as she tried to figure out what he was thinking. But his facial expressions weren't telling her much and he wasn't saying all that much, either.

"You weren't supposed to find that" he said, sighing. The plans he'd had were ruined. He had planned on proposing when the entire thing was all done with, when they were able to be together like a normal couple, and when he could give her the most romantic yet cheesy proposal that his mind could come up with.

"I figured that much. But I did.."

"And it..freaked ya out, right? You can just say so.."

"Yeah, it freaked me out. I mean, I didn't know you were thinking about that. I don't think we ever talked about it and I just don't want to be one of those women who marries young and then totally destroys a wonderful man, you know? Cause you are wonderful and I'm not and I don't deserve you"

"You're kiddin' right? I don't deserve you, but I want ya, anyway because I don't know what I'd do without ya...Blondie. I made ya lie to your family, friends, everyone bout' who I was and what I was doin' in Port Charles. I put ya through all sorts of hell just cause I was too selfish to let you go..cause I loved you too much"

"But I agreed to keep your secret, Dante. It wasn't like you threatened to murder my family with an AK-47 if I didn't keep your secret. I guess I don't see why anyone would want to marry me, that's all"

"Because, I love you and I don't ever wanna be with anyone else..just you..I already talked to my Ma..and she doesn't know you all that well. But she approves. She's just happy I didn't end up with Lulu..not sure why though"

"Your mother approves of me? Wow, that's a first. I couldn't even get Coopers best friend to like me. Well then again there was that entire thing and I won't get into it. Point is? I am not well liked by anyone except those who fear me and they only like me? Because I can squash them like bugs. Why don't your mother like Lulu?" She asked, curiously.

"I dunno, don't ask me, I have no idea" he said. "But she does approve..so..can you just get the ring box for me?"

She nodded as she got up from the chair and walked over to the jacket, stuffing her hand in the pocket she had found it in earlier, and then pulled out the ring box. Maxie went back to the chair and handed him the ring box.

"I think we only got two options here, Blondie.."

She sighed and nodded. "And those would be?"

"Well we can forget the ring eva existed and go on with things the way they are..or..you can put it on and agree to marry me because we both know that you want to.." he said, taking a breath before popping the ring box open. "It was my Uncle Nathan's wife's ring. They met back in Bensonhurst..and she uh agreed to marry him when she was pregnant with my cousin, Aidan? She died after havin' him though..so he neva got to know his Ma or anythin'. When I was a kid though, he gave it to me and told me that someday..I should ask the woman I wanted to spend the rest of my life with to marry me with the ring, just like he had. Cause it was lucky or somethin' like that..lucky cause she'd said yes. So what do ya..say..you wanna marry me or not, Blondie?"


End file.
